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Observations on today's Louisville game.

I was in Louisville today to work the game. 11:10 start. I love the games they play real early for the school kids. Those kids have a blast skipping school for a day to go to the ballpark.

I sat with my old pal Ken Sr. for the whole game. (He's going to answer those questions everyone sent in don't worry) We always have a great time watching the game together. He does his best to break your concentration. He has more stories than I do so it's a lot easier for him to get me every time.

Of what I saw today....

Elizardo Ramirez was as strong as I've ever seen him. 6IP 3H 0ER NO WALKS and 7K. What was so impressive about his outing is that he worked quick, showed his two seamer early for a strike and used his curve and slider to get guys out. He flat out jammed the lefties with his slider. Much the same way Danny Jackson did to righties. This is the first time I have ever seen him change speeds on any of his pitches. If he puts 4 or 5 of these types of starts together he could really get in a groove for the rest of the season. 92 Pitches 65 strikes. The home plate umpire left a lot to be desired today as well. He could have easily been at 75 strikes.

Syracuse starter Ty Taubenheim was equally ridiculous. He pitches very aggressive and made several of the Bats hitters look silly at times. 7IP 2H 0ER 1BB 3K. Great stuff, great command and he's tough. (not scrappy)

Bergolla is lunging at the ball. I saw him do this last year before he settled in. He is also getting under the ball quite a bit. I wonder if Rick Sweet is going to make him do push ups if he keeps hitting the ball in the air? He played SS but only had one ball hit to him all day. That one ball was waaay deep in the hole and there was no play.

Stratton looks slimmed down. He's also flailing at pitches. He's not locked in but he wants to swing so bad he can taste it. He did get a base hit today that showed just how strong he is. He was seriously jammed on an inside Fastball. The ball hit BELOW the label and he still got it over the Shortstop's head. I saw the 3B and SS just shake their head as the throw came in from LF. Actually you can add me to that list too.

Abad... I really like him. (I like him because of his story) His swing looks pretty goofy. He's surrounding the ball quite a bit. Sr. thinks he's too far from the plate. I agree. They threw him almost all FB's away and popped two in the air to RF, one to short and grounded weakly to 2B. He's an established AAA hitter so it will not be long before he gets settled.

Buchanan played today. The .500 avergae swing was still in bed this morning. He pulled two balls hard but they were pretty routine. He popped out pretty weak to 2B and whiffed mightily on a curve. Some credit needs to be given to Taubenheim as well. He was cruising along the first 4-5 innings of the game. Buchanan will come around. He's pretty awkward in the field. He makes the play but you wonder how sometimes.

Terrence Long is still Terrence Long. SUPER long swing. Bat speed like Pete Rose Jr. How he has a job and Jacob Cruz doesn't is mystifying.

Matt Kata looked bad at the dish too. Sounds like I'm harping on these guys but hey they were out their playing. He did look good in the field. More range than I expected. He's got some decent wheels too.

Earl Snyder had a good day 2-4. He's pretty much the only guy who hit Taubenheim. Not a bad 3B either.

Ryan Wagner was as bad as I have ever seen him. He came in to start the 7th in a 0-0 game. He just came apart right away. Fastball was 92-95 but none for strikes. He gave up a single to Chad Mottola, yep that Chad Mottola, to lead off the 7th. Then came the slider, WHOOPS to the backstop... he got his sinker over to John Hattig who got Mottola to 3B. Facing Rob Crosby he throws a Fastball in that got CRUSHED to LF. 2-0 Syracuse. Figueroa hit a hard shot to 1B but Gutierrez bailed him out with a good play. Mahoney singled and the next hitter Lydon whacked another one to Gutierrez. Wagner owes him big time.

Next inning Wagner got two quick outs and then he gave up a double. You could see the pouting start. Next pitch was over the catcher's head. Then came another wild slider to score the run. He'd have been better off giving up a HR. Sweet saw enough and came to get him. Brutal.

I saw Sabo after the game. We chatted for a few mins. He is like Dick Clark. He never ages. Always good to see Spuds.

Tim Naehring was in town with Mack Jenkins.

It's absolutely pathetic that people can't have an opinion from actually watching games and supplementing that with stats. If you voice an opinion that doesn't fit into a black/white box you will get completely misrepresented and basically called a tobacco chewing traditionalist...

Re: Observations on today's Louisville game.

Thanks alot for posting TC - Great Read! On another topic, I had a quick question for you - my grandma is turning 85 in May and she is a die-hard, life long Reds fan. Her favorite player is Adam Dunn, and I was hoping to send him a photo or something he may autograph to her. Do you have any advice or information as to where I should send this or who to address it to? Thanks alot.

Re: Observations on today's Louisville game.

Curedsfan, I send Adam a baseball card two years ago to the stadium. I wrote a nice letter telling him I was a fan and included some moments I witnessed of him. Asked him at the bottom of the letter if he would sign my card and send it back to me, and I also included a self addressed stamped enveloped for him to return it in. About a month later I got it back signed. This was a few years ago however and sometimes players quit signing over time.

Re: Observations on today's Louisville game.

Thanks for the review TC. What is your take on what's wrong with Wagner? Is it a confidence thing? Incosistent mechanics? Aiming the ball? It's a shame to see a guy with solid raw stuff struggle so much...

Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.

Re: Observations on today's Louisville game.

Originally Posted by curedsfan

Thanks alot for posting TC - Great Read! On another topic, I had a quick question for you - my grandma is turning 85 in May and she is a die-hard, life long Reds fan. Her favorite player is Adam Dunn, and I was hoping to send him a photo or something he may autograph to her. Do you have any advice or information as to where I should send this or who to address it to? Thanks alot.

I would send your photo to the stadium care of Adam Dunn. Players read their mail typically during the "quite time" when no media is allowed in 45 mins prior to game time. He gets a lot of mail but he does get too it.

It's absolutely pathetic that people can't have an opinion from actually watching games and supplementing that with stats. If you voice an opinion that doesn't fit into a black/white box you will get completely misrepresented and basically called a tobacco chewing traditionalist...

Re: Observations on today's Louisville game.

Originally Posted by RedsManRick

Thanks for the review TC. What is your take on what's wrong with Wagner? Is it a confidence thing? Incosistent mechanics? Aiming the ball? It's a shame to see a guy with solid raw stuff struggle so much...

Confidence is a real big part. I did not notice anything too far off base with his mechanics. It's more concentration and maturity than anything.

It's absolutely pathetic that people can't have an opinion from actually watching games and supplementing that with stats. If you voice an opinion that doesn't fit into a black/white box you will get completely misrepresented and basically called a tobacco chewing traditionalist...

Re: Observations on today's Louisville game.

Just goes to show you that even guys at AAA can hit 92-95 MPH as long as it is straight.

It's absolutely pathetic that people can't have an opinion from actually watching games and supplementing that with stats. If you voice an opinion that doesn't fit into a black/white box you will get completely misrepresented and basically called a tobacco chewing traditionalist...

Re: Observations on today's Louisville game.

Hey TC - since you are "in the know" - any of the FA pitchers out there - do you know if any are 'working out' and might be able to be called on a moment's notice? And what happened to Jesus Colome? He was the darling of Joe Magraine for a while.

Re: Observations on today's Louisville game.

Hey TC - since you are "in the know" - any of the FA pitchers out there - do you know if any are 'working out' and might be able to be called on a moment's notice? And what happened to Jesus Colome? He was the darling of Joe Magraine for a while.

There are a lot of guys available right now. I know myself and a few other guys have not been asked to go look at any of them. That does not mean other teams are not out there rooting through the scrap heap.

April and May is a time of self evaluation. With the draft around the corner you need to get a real handle on your own player's development.

It's absolutely pathetic that people can't have an opinion from actually watching games and supplementing that with stats. If you voice an opinion that doesn't fit into a black/white box you will get completely misrepresented and basically called a tobacco chewing traditionalist...

Re: Observations on today's Louisville game.

Thanks for the post TC. Do you think Ramirez has benefitted from working with Mario Soto when it comes to changing speed on his pitches?

It must be great when, as Marge Schott put it, you're "getting paid to watch baseball."

So what's your typical routine when you work a game?

Yes. Mightily. This is why the job was not offered to Browning. Browning can only teach one way. Mario is a better overall instructor.

It is great to get paid to watch baseball. I'll be on the field soon too which is even better.

It's absolutely pathetic that people can't have an opinion from actually watching games and supplementing that with stats. If you voice an opinion that doesn't fit into a black/white box you will get completely misrepresented and basically called a tobacco chewing traditionalist...

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